Britain's competition regulator plans to force big tech companies to give rivals better access to data and stop them from promoting their own products, under new powers the government will give it, we learned on Thursday.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has stepped up its supervision of big technology companies such as Meta, owner of Facebook, Alphabet, parent of Google, Amazon and Apple.

His willingness to confront these companies was clear last year, when he intervened in Microsoft's purchase of the Call of Duty maker, Activision Blizzard, and more recently, when he said he was investigating the agreement signed by the American giant with the ChatGPT maker, OpenAI.

“The new competition regime for digital markets will help ensure that competing technology companies can bring truly disruptive and exciting innovations that will create interesting new products for consumers,” said Sarah Cardell, director of the CMA, at a conference in Silicon Valley, according to a CMA news release.

“Today's overview paper clarifies not only for UK parliamentarians, but also for digital businesses and other stakeholders, the approach the CMA intends to take,” he said.

More than two years ago, the CMA created a specialist digital markets unit, with expertise in examining rapidly evolving markets such as social media. Large technology companies with designated company status will have to comply with the new rules.

The unit will be given new powers under legislation currently before Parliament.

The CMA, which was granted additional status after Brexit, said it expected to open three or four investigations in the first year after the new regime came into force.

He said this could prevent companies from prioritizing their own products and services and force them to give rivals better access to data and features.

The CMA could also require them to allow their competitors' products and services to work with theirs or ensure they offer effective options to their users, and ask them to increase transparency in relation to certain aspects of their algorithms. (Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Paul Sandle and Angus MacSwan)